Vanity case



s. MORRISON VANITY CASE Filed Jan. 17, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 i "Winn I lT2255 INVENTOR ATT RNEYS VANITY CASE Filed Jan. 17, 1935 ZSheets-Sheet 2WWW? 7 7 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS Patented May 19, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE 8 Claims.

This invention relates to vanity cases and is particularly applicable tovanity cases for carrying loose powder.

Among the objects of the invention are to provide simple and improvedmechanism for opening and closing the powder compartment, to providesuch mechanism which can be manufactured rapidly at low expense, and toprovide such mechanism which can be reliably manufactured under quantityproduction conditions.

Other objects of the invention are to provide mechanism whichaccomplishes the above objects and is particularly adapted for square orrectangular vanity cases.

A further object of the invention is to provide opening and closingmechanism for a loose powder compartment which permits of apowdertransferring aperture in the compartment that is large inproportion to the size of the compartment.

More detailed and specific objects of the invention will be apparentfrom the following disclosure.

The invention is disclosed in a vanity case having a conventionalrectangular outer shell, the shell consisting of shallow recessed topand bottom members connected by a hinge and arranged to be latchedtogether in superimposed relation when the vanity case is closed. Thebottom member of the case either constitutes a powder compartment or hasa portion of it walled off to form a powder compartment. The powdercompartment has a top that is apertured to give powder-transferringaccess to thecompartment. Beneath the aperture are a pair of shutterblades each of which is bodily movable edgewise of itself in asubstantially straight line. The two blades are linked together so thatthey move simultaneously in opposite directions being separated to openthe aperture and brought together to close the aperture.

Fig. l is a perspective view of the closed vanity case.

Fig. 2 is a plan view, showing the vanity case open.

Fig. 3 is a double scale vertical section through the powder compartmenttaken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2, the cover in closed position beingadded thereto in dot-dash lines.

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, to thesame scale as Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a double scale bottom view taken approximately on the line 55of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of an apertured plate which underlies theshutter mechanism.

Fig. '7 is a plan View of a modified form of interior box structure, aportion of the powder compartment top being broken away to show theshutter mechanism.

Fig. 8 shows the structure of Fig. '7 turned upside down.

Fig. 9 is a double scale vertical section taken on the line 9-9 of Fig.7.

Fig. 10 is a double size upside down view corresponding to Fig. 8, butwith the apertured plate removed, the shutters being in closed position.

Fig. 11 is an upside down view corresponding to Fig. 10, but with theshutters in open position.

In Figs. 1 to 5 the lower member of the outer shell is designated as awhole by M, and the upper member of the shell is designated as a wholeIS. The two shell members are connected by a hinge l6 and are arrangedto be latched together in superimposed relation by a conventional latchll which is carried by a leaf spring. A square portion of the lowershell member I4 is walled off by an inserted structure to form a powdercompartment, leaving a rectangular space l8 which may be occupied by arouge compact, cake of mascara, powder puff or other articles.

The inserted powder compartment structure is shown in Figs. 2 to 6 andcomprises a top member having a depressed center portion 2] and adepending annular flange 22. The flange 22 is adapted to be telescopedwithin flange 24 of the outer shell and be frictionally held thereto,the friction being augmented if desired by instruck burrs or projectionssuch as 25 (two shown). Beneath the top 20 of the powder compartment isa plate 26 which is telescoped within the flange 22; and this plate andthe depressed portion 2! of the top are provided with aligned apertures21 and 28, respectively, through which access to the powder compartmentmay be had.

Slidably mounted between plate 26 and the depressed portion 2! of thepowder compartment top is a rectangular shutter blade 30. Integral withblade 30 are projections 3i and 32 which are of L-shaped cross sectionand form a track to receive the ends 34 and 35 of a second shutter blade36. The ends 34 and 35 are curved upwardly (see Fig. 4) so that shutterblades 30 and 30 lie in the same horizontal plane; and the meeting edgesof the two shutter blades are preferably beveled as best shown in Fig. 3to provide a slightly overlapping effect when the shutters are closed.Integral with the projecting members 3! and 32 are horizontal wings 3|and 32 which extend through out out areas 3| and 32 (Fig. 5) in theflange 22 and project over the top of flange 24 of the outer shell.

Links 30 and 30" are pivoted to shutter blade 30 and carry downwardlyprojecting pins 30 and 30 Links 36 and 36" each have one end pivoted toshutter blade 36 and the other end pivoted to one of the links 30 and30". Plate 26 is inserted from the bottom into depending flange 22 andis provided with slots 26 and 26* through which pins 30 and 30 depend.Plate 26 is provided with depending legs 31 at its corners which restupon the bottom of the outer shell 14 when the structure is assembled;and this plate is also provided with an upstanding wall member 38 (Figs.3 and 6) which lies close against the flange 22 adjacent tolatch I! andprevents powder from sifting out at the latch.

Sliding motion imparted to wings 3P and/or 32 is transmitted directly toshutter blade 30. The movement of shutter blade 30 swings links 30' and30" on their respective pivots 30 and 30 thereby reciprocating links 36'and 36" to give opposite sliding movement to shutter blade 36. In Fig.2, the shutter blades and actuating wings 3| and 32 are shown in solidlines for closed position and are indicated in dotted lines for openposition. The flange of the top shell member I5 is notched at 3| and 32to close over wings 3F and 32 as shown in Fig. l, and lock the shutterblades 30 and 36 in closed position. This eliminates the possibility ofthe shutters being jarred open accidentally while the owner is carryingthe case. The depressed top portion 2| of the powder compartmentprovides a convenient space for a powder puff; and a fragment of such apufi is shown at 39 in Fig. 2. In Figs. 7 to 10 there is shown amodified interior box construction adapted to be inserted in "aconventional outer shell in place of the interior construction shown inFigs. 2 to 6. The structure has a top 40 with a depressed center portion'41 that is apertured at 42, and about the top there is a dependingannular flange 44. Telescoped within the flange 44 is a square plate 45having an aperture 46 in alignment with the aperture 42. Formed in thetop of plate 42 is a circular bearing or seat 41 that receives a ring48. Projecting upwardly from ring 48 is a pin 49' that extends throughan arcuate slot 50 in the top 40. By means of this pin the ring 48 canbe oscillated back and forth in its seat 41.

Between ring 48 and the depressed portion 4| of the top are a pair ofshutter blades 5| and 52, vprovided respectively with arms 5| and 52*.At 5| and 52 the arms are pivotally connected to the ring 48; and theopposite corners of the blades are provided with depending pins 5| and52 which extend through arcuate slots 5| and 52 in plate 45.

When ring 48 is in the position shown in Figs. 7 and 10, the shutterblades are closed; but upon rotation of the ring by the pin 49, theshutter blades are moved bodily in opposite directions, separating themand opening the aperture as shown in Fig. 11. Thus by merely moving pin49 back and forth in slot 50 the shutter blades are substantiallyreciprocated toward and away from each other to close and open theaperture to the powder compartment.

In accordance with the patent statutes I have shown the best forms inwhich I have contemplated applying my invention, but it will beunderstood that many variations may be made within the scope of theinvention and that the disclosure is illustrative and is not to beconsidered as limiting the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A vanity case comprising: a powder compartment having a top and aplate beneath the top, the top and plate being provided with alignedapertures through which access to the compartment may be had and theplate being additionally provided with operating slots; a pair ofshutter blades between said top and said plate, each of said bladesbeing slidable to and fro edgewise of itself to cover and uncover onehalf of the area of the aligned apertures; and means to impart slidingmovement to one of the blades in response to opposite sliding movementof the other blade, said means comprising blade connecting means andpins extending into said operating slots in said plate.

2. A vanity case comprising: a powder compartment having a plate that isapertured to give access to the compartment, a pair of shutter bladesadjacent the aperture to open and close the same, a first pair of linkspivoted to one of the shutter blades, a second pair of links pivoted tothe first pair of links and also to the other shutter blade, andpin-and-slot connections between said piate and the links of the secondpair.

3. A vanity case comprising: an outer shell which can be opened andclosed, there being an apertured powder compartment in the shell;shutter mechanism to open and close the aperture; and means toautomatically lock the shutter mechanism in closed position when theouter shell is closed.

4. A vanity case comprising: a shell having a body portion and a tophinged thereto, there being an apertured powder compartment within saidbody portion; a shutter blade movable over the aperture; a projectionextending from the blade over the top of said body portion; and means toengage said projection and hold it in fixed position when the outershell is closed.

5. A powder compartment shutter mechanism comprising: a shutter blade,means to slidably support the same, spaced tracks attached to saidblade, a second shutter blade slidable on said tracks, and mechanisminterconnecting the blades and operative to move one blade in onedirection in response to movement of the other blade in the oppositedirection.

6. A vanity case comprising: a powder compartment having an aperturethrough which access to the compartment may be had, a slidable shutterblade adapted to close and open one half of the aperture, means to guidesaid blade for substantially reciprocating movement, a second shutterblade adapted to close and open the other half of said aperture, meansto guide said second blade for substantially reciprocating movement, anda link pivotally connected to the first blade and connected to thesecond blade to impart movement thereto oppositely to the movement ofthe first blade.

'7. A vanity case comprising: a powder com partment having an aperturethrough which access to the compartment may be had; a ring surroundingthe aperture; means to oscillate the ring; aperture closing meansconsisting of a pair of shutter blades, the blades being pivotallyconnected to the ring for movement in opposite directions in response tomovement of the ring; and guiding means to maintain the bladessubstantially parallel to each other while they are in motion.

8. A vanity case comprising: a powder compartment having an aperturethrough which access to the compartment may be had; a ring surroundingthe aperture; means to oscillate the ring; aperture closing meanscomprising a plurality of shutter blades, each blade being pivotallyconnected to the ring to be moved in response to movement of the ring;and pin-and-slot means to guide the blades during their movement.

SIMON MORRISON.

